Merry-go-round



raient-ea Feb. 27, i923.

l Unirse star-iss inline refrein:

VTILLIANI WEASER, 0F PITTSFIELCD7- MASACHUSETTS. A

Application filed yNoveinher 14, 15211 Serial No. 515,034.

- invention,.such `as will enable others skilled in the` art to which itappertains to malte and use the same. f f y.

This invention relates to an in'iproved merry-go-round which isespecially, butnot necessarily designed foruse by children, the

same being such in construction that itis manually operated by oneof theoccupants either by a hand rope 'or lever arranged in convenient reachof the operator.

The principal object of the invention is to generally improve upondevices of this classi by providingone ofextrenie simplicity andvdura-bility which is well balanced and so constructed that it is veryeasy for a single child to propel the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide a. pleasure device of thisclasswhich embodies a novel arrangement of levers and links forimparting a rather speedy vrotation to the seat carrier withoutrequiringtheoperator to exert himself tol such a degree as to become readilytired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a merry-go-roundy whichembodies a standard with a. rotary carrier mounted on the upper endthereof, this' carrier embodying radial arms which support theindividual seats, these arms ,being formedv of light weight metal butbeing braced by novel mea-iis which does' notinterfere `withfree-rotation of the carrier and insures strength and durability. l

A. further object of the invention is to providev a structure whereinthe various parts may be easily and readily detached from onel anotherto enable repairs Vto be easily made'.

Other objects and advantages of the -invention will be appa-rent duringthecourse of the following description.

ln the accompanying drawings forming :i part of this specification andwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame: Figure l is a. perspective view of a merrygo-round constructedthis invention.

yFigure 2 is ya top vplanview thereof.

Figure is a sectional view, with parts in in accordancev with elevation,showing the detailsvof construe,

tion more clearly.

Referring `to the drawings, theviiuineral 1 designatesa'base from lwhicha standard 2 rises, this standard beingformed in litsA up# perfendfwitha socket 3. Removablyar ranged in this socketis a' shaft a which fextends above the upper. end of the standard and has a ratchet 5, keyedor otherwisepei trice.

inanently secured lthereto vto :render `it sta` tionary. To preventrotation of theshaft., aset-sci'ew` 6 lis employed.l .By carefullyexamining the sectional view] appearing 'in specially constructed so as:to accommodate ball bearings 7 which are interposed betweenl Fig. 3, itwill be seen that the ratchet 5 is which is rotatably mounted ontheshaft 4 and is held-in place by a nutlO. l/Vith this arrangement, itywill be seen .that the entire carrier` can be removed whenevernecessary orY desired. `The carrier inladdition to einbodying thisspideryincludes a plurality of radial seat-supporting armsl 11 which arebolted or otherwise secured to the outer ends of the spider arms-asindicated at 12. before set forth, these larms are constructed as light`in ,weight asis possible to insure strengthv yet not to interfere ,withthefiee rotationl of the carrier. However, to `insure against .anybreakage which may occur and to prevent vthe arms vfrom bending, Iemploy a. number of diagonal braces 13`whicliare secured at their upperVends to the carrier arms andare attachedat their lower ends to a collar14C vwhich surrounds the standard. below the aforesaid set-screw 6. Anadjustable `stop 15 c'o-operates with 'this As l collar 1l to preventthe saine from slidingy down on the standard and permits it to beelevated to render the carrier arms horithe strain to whichv they aresubjected.l In

order to insure free rot-ation of the carrier -v and bracing means. ballbearings 16. are in-V upper end of the standard and said ratchet andthis arm serves to carry a paivl 18 which is designed for co-operationwith the teeth of the ratchet. A flat spring 19 serves to hold the dogin engagement with the ratchet.

A plurality of seats 20 are supported from the outer ends of theaforesaid carrier arms by means of vertically disposed spaced side bars21 and at least one of these seats is designed to be occupied by theoperator, that is, the person Who constitutes the poiver for manuallyactuating the device. Of course, if found advisable, one or more of theremaining seats could be equipped with operatingmeans to enable the Workto be equally divided among the several occupants. For the sake ofclearness, a single operating structure has been shown. By referring tothe seat equipped with this operatingl means, it *will be seen that saidmeans comprises a lever 22 which is pivoted intermediate its ends on theinner vertical side bar 21 of the seat under consideration. At its lowerend, this lever is equipped with a horizontal handle 3 designed to begrasped by the operator 2st. A second and L-shaped lever is pivoted at26 on the intermediate portion of the adjacent carrier arm and a link 27serves as a connection betvveen the tivo levers. A second and shorterlink 2S is pivot-ally connected to the short arm of the L-shaped leverand to the dog-carrying; member 17 and it is obvious that by graspingthe handle and exertinga pull towarl the seat, a rotary motion vvill beimparted to the carrier and seat. At. ivill be found convenient tooperate the device by means of a rope in some instances and to permitthis endto be accomplished, l employ a bell-crank 29 and dispose this,by means of brackets 30 between the verticalside bars of the yoperato1"sseat, and connect this bell-crank lWith the aforesaid L-shaned lever 25through the medium of a link 31. A rope 32 is connected to the remainingarm of this bellcrank and depends into convenient reach of the operator.If desired, the handle 23 may be such that it can be swung; out of theWay of the operator ivhen the rope is being used, any suitableconstruct-ion being employed for enabling this result to be obtained.For the purpose of maintaining' the parts in the position shoivn in thedrawings, l make use of a relatively large coiled spring 33 which isconnected with one of the elements of the operating means and thesucceeding` carrying arm.

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming that the operator isin the seat on which the operating means is arranged and furtherassuming that the parts are in the position shown in the drawings, itwill be seen that When the operator grasps the handle 23 and exerts apull toward himself, the

links and levers Will momentarily be locked and act as a unit to exert apush against the ratchet. inasmuch as the lastnamed element is fixed, itis obvious'that the rotary head or carrier will be moved in thedirection of the arrow A. During this motion, the 'dog will ride overthe ratchet teeth and the operating` means being connected with thecarrier, it will be moved around With the latter so that When theoperator desires to obtain another pull, this can be done because theparts are in a convenient position to permit it. The coiled springreferred to serves to automatically return the parts with which itco-acts to their normal positions. llie operation will be exactly thesaine if the pull rope is used.

By carefully considering the description in connection With thedrawings, persons familiar with devices `of this class `vill doubtlessbe able to obtain a clear understanding of the invention. Therefore, avmore lengthy and detailed description is deemed unnecessary.

Since probably the best results may be obtained with the constructionand arrangement herein shown and described, this is taken as thepreferred embodiment of the invention. However, I Wish it to beunderstood that minor changes coming, Within the scope of the inventionas claimed may be resorted to if desired, such for instance as theomission of the base and the setting of the standard into the ground.

` l claim:

1. An apparatus of the class described comprising' a vertical standard.a rotary seat arrying device mounted upon the upper end portion of saidstandard, a ratchet fixed with respect to said carrying device, a pawlfor engri-igina` said ratchet, a carrying member for said paivlpivotally mounted and when swung in one direction moving the paivl aboutsaid ratchet and when swung in the other direction causing said paivl toimpart rotary movement to the seat carrier through the medium of saidratchet, a substantially L-shaped lever pivotally connected with theseat-carrying device, a link pivotally connected with said pawlcarryingmember and one end of said lever, a pivotally mounted operatinglever, and a connection between said levers.

Q. An apparatus of the class described comprisinnP a vertical standard.a rotary seat carrying device mounted on the upper end of said standard.said carrying device embodying a plurality of radial arms, side barsccn,..ected with the outer ends of said arms and depending' therefrom.seats supported by said side bars. a ratchet fixed with respect to saidcarryingdevice, a paivl (5o-operative with said ratchet and movablearound the latter, a carryingmember' for said parvl, a substantiallyL-shaped lever pivotally conneoted with one ofs'aid radial arms, a link"pvotally connected with said lever and member, en operating leverpivoted on one rof said side bars, and e connection betweenseit-supporting arms, spaced vertical sidel bars connected with theouter ends of the arms and depending therefrom, seats mounted betweensaid bers, brackets connected with the side bars of Lone of the seats, abellmechanism.

crank lever pivotally connected with seid brackets, a pull ropeconnected With one `of the arms ofsad lever, ay second and substantiellyL-shaped lever pivotally connected With the adjacent carrier arm, aconnectionv between said levers, paWl and ratchet means associated withthe standard and carrier or 'imparting rotation to the latter ywhen therops is pulled, end co-acting means between said L-sheped lever and pewland ratchet In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM H. WEAsER.

